Alabama

Compare pharmacy prices, save money

Members of the Public Education Employees’ Health Insurance Plan, or PEEHIP, can save themselves and the program money by comparing drug prices at different drug stores.

Ordinarily, PEEHIP members pay $6 for a 30-day supply of generic drugs and from $40 to $60 for covered preferred brand drugs and drugs deemed “non-preferred brand drugs.”

But a review of generic drug prices at super retailers, such as Walmart, big drug stores and large drug chains shows that savings can be found if shoppers are willing to be diligent.

Winn-Dixie stores have more recently launched a prescription-savings program for customers that offers discounts on more than 400 generic and some name-brand medications.

Shoppers must enroll in the annual program and pay $5 for the service. Customers are also required to have an active Winn-Dixie reward card that keeps track of prescription benefits. Anyone can sign up for the program at a local Winn-Dixie service counter.

Once enrolled, a $5 store coupon will be loaded to a customer’s reward card. The plan offers drug prices of $4 for a 30-day supply and $10 for a 90-day supply on more than 400 types of generic medications, plus other ongoing promotions and specials.

“Not everyone has insurance or health benefits that adequately cover prescriptions,” John Fegan, vice president of pharmacy for Winn-Dixie, said in a statement. “This program makes it easier for our customers to get the prescriptions they need at a great deal so they can focus on their health, not on how much it costs.”

Prescription records are available at any location or accessible by computer through ePharmacy and through a free smartphone app, the Winn-Dixie Rx App.

Consumer behemoth Walmart began the generic retail drug pricing prescription program in 2006, and it has proven wildly popular, already saving customers some $350 million in costs, according to Walmart.

The program, which now accounts for more than 35 percent of all prescriptions filled at Walmart, helped drive its pharmacy-business sales and profitability.

The company has more than 3,500 pharmacies in Walmart and Neighborhood Market stores and another 485 in Sam’s Club stores.

At Walmart, customers pay $4 for a 30-day supply on hundreds of drugs and $10 for 90-day supplies.

K-Mart launched a similar program the same year with $5 per month prices for a limited number of drugs. By early November 2006, the deep-discount offerings spread to several other large national and regional chains, notably Target, which offers 30-day supplies of generics ranging from $4 to $9.

In 2007, another retail grocery chain, Publix, announced an offer of eight prescription oral antibiotics for free, in the commonly used 14-day supply. The free antibiotics are offered to customers regardless of their prescription insurance provider.

Walgreen’s, the nation’s largest drugstore chain, has an extensive list of generic drugs with prices that one could compare ranging from $10 to $30 for a 90-day supply and $5 to $15 for a 30-day supply and more than 400 generic medications value priced at $12 for a 90-day supply, or $9.99 for a 30-day supply.

Walgreen’s markets its program for generics for less than $1 a week for 90-day supplies for more than 400 generic medications. It requires a membership fee of $20 for an individual or $35 for a family. CVS has a similar plan, requiring a $10 enrollment fee. A 90-day supply for a generic drug at CVS under its “Health Savings Pass” costs $9.99.

In April 2008, Kroger launched its own general program for $4 generics.

The Alabama PEEHIP Board adopted a new PEEHIP plan, that became effective Jan. 1, that will link the drug program to Medicare Part D.

The board asserted the new plan would provide extra savings and long-term solvency to PEEHIP while keeping retirees’ prescription drug benefits intact.

Here are some links that might be helpful in finding cheaper generic drugs outside PEEHIP: